Before it became increasingly clear that Chris Carter and the writing team for spooky 90s sci-fi show, The X-Files, were absolutely making the ongoing conspiracy plot up as they went along, and drove it completely off a cliff (more than once!) it was a compelling and incredibly addictive watch, every single week.

It seemed perfectly timed to crest a wave of fascination with alien abduction and invasion, as well as making use of existing urban legends and emerging advances in technology for its stories.

Topps Comics launched their X-Files tie-in comic in 1995, at just the right time. The series was peaking in popularity worldwide, having drawn in mainstream viewers as well as the dedicated fan base who’d been with it since the pilot episode. They did a fantastic job with it too, presenting original stories, many of which were one off issues, feeling like they could slot straight into the TV show’s run at that time, functioning much like the less conspiracy focused, monster of the week style episodes.

Issue 13 is one which touches upon some themes that feel timely today. For example, a previous model citizen suddenly shooting his colleagues, and the relationship between humans and increasingly convincing AI creations.

It’s got a few elements which seriously date it, but that’s not surprising given where technology was back in 1996, at the time of its publication. Some of the talk of technology and its capabilities can be a little silly, but it is classic X-Files in terms of its creepy use of what was becoming something that more and more people were using.

It’s also got that classic version of Scully; the one where, even in the presence of overwhelming evidence and a demonstration of what’s happened, she refuses to believe what’s going on.

Art-wise, the running artist for the series, Charles (aka Charlie, these days) Adlard turns in some great, atmospheric work that shows why he was the perfect person to illustrate the vast majority of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead. Miran Kim, who provided the painted art for the cover of this and other issues of The X-Files, also produces some of the interior art for this issue, but despite its impressive photorealism and clever use to distinguish digital and imagined fantasy from reality, it lacks a bit of storytelling clarity, which isn’t the case with Adlard’s work.

Still, this was an intriguing issue, and it’s cool to see the Lone Gunmen and shadowy X here; it’s also a great reminder of the strength of the show and its cast of supporting characters at the time of this issue’s release.

Though it does feel like it suddenly comes to an end, wrapping up a little too quickly and without giving the climax enough breathing room, I enjoyed taking a trip back to the mid-90s, when The X-Files ruled the world.